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“Can you tell us about Death Bringer and his suspicious involvement in your last case?”

Liz raised her eyebrows. “That’s hardly an unbiased question, is it? Who are you, exactly?”

“I’m his father.”

“Oh, right.” Liz blushed and looked at Spencer. “Are you okay with me sharing classified SBLE information here?”

“Please go ahead.”

“Whenever I attempted to connect up the evidence for the latest case,Vadimshowed up in my Fae-Web. I was uneasy that he seemed so central to the issues and shared those concerns with my team.” She glanced over at Ella. “Well, initially with everyone except Ella. She was firmly on his side, and that’s understandable.”

“Are you suggesting that Soul Sucker was aware of the accused’s actions in this case and was helping him conceal his true motive?”

“That’s stretching it a bit. I knew Ella wasn’t quite being her normal self because of how she felt about Vadim.”

“Did you at any point confront the accused?”

“Sure, but there wasn’t a problem. When I asked him publicly what was going on, he was more than willing to help. He offered to get us any information we needed from his contacts in Otherworld.”

The Fae queen spoke up for the first time. “So, in fact he offered to help you with the investigation, not hinder you?”

Liz turned gratefully toward the queen. “Yes, that’s exactly it.”

“But Ms. Goddard,” the king interrupted. “Are you saying your Fae-Web was wrong? I didn’t believe that was possible.”

“My Fae-Web reached a series of conclusions that are always open to interpretation. Once I was assured that Vadim intended to help us chase down the face stealer, I knew the issues would be resolved.”

“And were they?”

Liz hesitated. “To a certain degree.”

The Fae king bowed. “Your loyalty to your team and its members does you credit, Ms. Goddard, but even you aren’t prepared to lie for him completely. The accused’s offer to help you might have allayed some of your fears, but I bet it brought up a hundred new ones.”

He turned to address Spencer. “Let me recap. In essence Ms. Goddard is saying that despite her desire to believe that ‘Vadim’ meant well, her Fae-Web chose not to trust him, and placed him squarely in the center of the case.”

“Shesaid she believed him. Does that count for nothing?” the Fae queen said quietly. “Fae-Webs can be wrong. And what does this current SBLE case have to do with the charges laid against my son today?”

It was the question that was bothering Ella too. She looked at Vadim, but he appeared lost in a trance, his brow furrowed, his gaze inward. This was one crazy trial process, when the prosecutors could ask loaded questions and the overall judge was a man who’d shown open dislike for Vadim when they last met. What chance did he have for a fair hearing?

“Thank you, Ms. Goddard.”

Liz waved as she passed Ella but didn’t get to stop and chat.

The Fae king continued to stand and stare at his wife. “As to your question, my queen, all will be answered in good time.”

“Yeah, right,” Ella muttered.

“Call Rossa.”

The blond Fae appeared in front of Ella, blew her a hasty kiss and strolled over to the stand, where he bowed to the assembled line of Royal Fae.

This time it was the older Fae queen who started the questioning.

“Rossa, you have been my appointed guardian for my grandson since he left Otherworld.”

“I have.”

“Do you believe he sought this latest conflict with Adam and the sect?”